R50/53 HELP! - Left the sunroof open all night in the rain
6th Gear
Joined: Apr 2004
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From: San Francisco Ca.
Originally Posted by Americonium
Do you know anyone with a de-humidifier? That would do the trick, and you could leave it alone. I think that would work faster than desicant, would it not?
I used to work for one of these companies and the most advanced drying technique involved using a huge amount of dessicant and simply recycling the air thru it over and over till the Building
was dry. Some put in a pillow case, thrown in the car, windows up and heater on ought to do the trick in a jiffy.
Forgot one thing, the smallest de-humidifiers I've worked with were heavy and had to have the collector bottle put underneath it, would not work in our MINIs.
good luck
4th Gear
Joined: Aug 2003
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From: Frederick, MD
I have a dehumidifier in my basement that is small enough to fit in the boot, if one of the seatbacks leaned forward and the parcel shelf is removed. The reservoir is removable and integrated into the base of the unit.
The only problem I see with using a dehumidifier outdoors this time of year in NC is that the efficiency drops off as the ambient temp dips below about 50F. This is b/c the first stage coil, that pulls the water out of the air, is basically an AC evaporator coil with a drip tray under it. The chilled (and hopefully drier) air is then passed over the condenser coil, to remove heat from the refrigerant, before the air is exhausted out the back of the unit. The warmer the inbound air, the greater the temp change as it passes over the coils, and the more moisture extracted.
The only problem I see with using a dehumidifier outdoors this time of year in NC is that the efficiency drops off as the ambient temp dips below about 50F. This is b/c the first stage coil, that pulls the water out of the air, is basically an AC evaporator coil with a drip tray under it. The chilled (and hopefully drier) air is then passed over the condenser coil, to remove heat from the refrigerant, before the air is exhausted out the back of the unit. The warmer the inbound air, the greater the temp change as it passes over the coils, and the more moisture extracted.
5th Gear
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 739
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From: Alexandria, VA - Old Town
Doh!
The funny thing about this is I did exactly the same thing less than a week after installed custom leather upolstery!
The biggest thing is to let the car dry out... for now, that means runninng the heater on high all the time. I forget if your seats are leather... if they are, clean them with a good cleaner and condition them as well... something like Lexol or Zymol.
Good luck!
The funny thing about this is I did exactly the same thing less than a week after installed custom leather upolstery!
The biggest thing is to let the car dry out... for now, that means runninng the heater on high all the time. I forget if your seats are leather... if they are, clean them with a good cleaner and condition them as well... something like Lexol or Zymol.
Good luck!
Originally Posted by NekoWoman
Any suggestions on how best to dry out the seats? They have the bun warmers which I dearly love... I hope they're rain-proof!
How'd this happen?
Okay, I fully admit this was an idiotic thing to do... yesterday was bright and sunny, about 70... It was getting warm and I had loaded up the MINI with the recycling to take to the bins. I didn't want to stink up the car in the heat so I opened the sunroof. One thing led to another and I didn't take the recycling... forgot all about it. And the open sunroof.
I woke up around 6 am to the sound of gentle (thank goodness!) rain... about 2.5 seconds later it registered.... OH CRAP! Grabbed the keys, ran outside and sure enough... wet seats. Thank goodness it hadn't been raining hard as it seems like only the seats and the carpet around the center console are wet. No puddles in the footwells - carpet's barely even damp there.
I'm really kicking myself on this one...
my poor Sebby's been through a lot lately! Since November he's bent a rim, gotten a bubble on his tire, gotten egged, shot by a b-b gun (windshield), (lightly - 5 mph) rear ended and shoved into the car in front of him and he's had to haul ten loads of my crap to a storage locker full to the gills. I now I'm torturing him with this... I'm feeling like a bad MINI-momma...
How'd this happen?
Okay, I fully admit this was an idiotic thing to do... yesterday was bright and sunny, about 70... It was getting warm and I had loaded up the MINI with the recycling to take to the bins. I didn't want to stink up the car in the heat so I opened the sunroof. One thing led to another and I didn't take the recycling... forgot all about it. And the open sunroof.
I woke up around 6 am to the sound of gentle (thank goodness!) rain... about 2.5 seconds later it registered.... OH CRAP!
Grabbed the keys, ran outside and sure enough... wet seats. Thank goodness it hadn't been raining hard as it seems like only the seats and the carpet around the center console are wet. No puddles in the footwells - carpet's barely even damp there.I'm really kicking myself on this one...
my poor Sebby's been through a lot lately! Since November he's bent a rim, gotten a bubble on his tire, gotten egged, shot by a b-b gun (windshield), (lightly - 5 mph) rear ended and shoved into the car in front of him and he's had to haul ten loads of my crap to a storage locker full to the gills. I now I'm torturing him with this... I'm feeling like a bad MINI-momma... 
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5th Gear
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,059
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From: Fulltime RVer - R53 towed behind a vintage 1979 35' MCI MC-5C Saudi
No garage here... no de-humdifier either. Couldn't find any dessicant at Super Wal-Mart (so big you can't find anything). I have kitty litter... to top things off, it's supposed to get down to 34 tonight...
While trying to run errands today, my car kept fogging up... reminded me of high school...
While trying to run errands today, my car kept fogging up... reminded me of high school...
that's right!!!
6th Gear
Joined: Apr 2004
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From: San Francisco Ca.
Nekowoman, the fact that everything is fogging up is good, perfect for the dessicant to work fast. Do you guys have a Target Store anywhere, even a Supermarket should have it? Want me to overnight you a couple of pounds.
Years ago I had an old Cadillac with cloth seats and I had installed one of those pop up sunroofs with the removable glass. I forgot to put the glass back in one night and it rained pretty hard. I drove to work with cardboard on the seat so as not to get myself wet, and left the windows open all day. (fortunately it was a warm summer day) The seats dried up nicely and there was never any hint of mildew smell at all.
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5th Gear
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From: Fulltime RVer - R53 towed behind a vintage 1979 35' MCI MC-5C Saudi
Originally Posted by sfjames2
Want me to overnight you a couple of pounds.
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5th Gear
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From: Fulltime RVer - R53 towed behind a vintage 1979 35' MCI MC-5C Saudi
Anybody know the name brands of a dessicant? (You'd be surprised (or maybe not) at how many people don't know the word dessicant.)
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5th Gear
Joined: Aug 2002
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From: Fulltime RVer - R53 towed behind a vintage 1979 35' MCI MC-5C Saudi
Okay, made a Home Depot run... found something called "Damp Rid." I bought enough for a room... LOL Any idea how long this will take to work? Hours? Days? Weeks?
6th Gear
Joined: Apr 2004
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From: San Francisco Ca.
If that stuff is a dessicant, should take a day at most as long as you keep the temp up inside your car by running the heater.
Also, it would'nt be a bad idea to keep putting the stuff in the car while sitting overnight for a week after everything appears to be dry just to be certain.
Also, it would'nt be a bad idea to keep putting the stuff in the car while sitting overnight for a week after everything appears to be dry just to be certain.
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5th Gear
Joined: Aug 2002
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From: Fulltime RVer - R53 towed behind a vintage 1979 35' MCI MC-5C Saudi
Thanks sfjames and everyone... hopefully this should work... My headliner seems to be dry, the seats and carpet are only damp now... and I'll keep hoping for a warm, low-humidity, sunny day here soon... :smile:
4th Gear
Joined: Aug 2003
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From: Frederick, MD
Originally Posted by NekoWoman
Okay, made a Home Depot run... found something called "Damp Rid." I bought enough for a room... LOL Any idea how long this will take to work? Hours? Days? Weeks?
HEY MINIUSA, Just an idea?
I'm thinking the rain sensing device in the windshield should get wired to the sunroof switch to prevent this from happening to me in the future, that is only when you're parked and the key is out of the ignition.........
5th Gear
Joined: Mar 2003
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From: Alexandria, VA - Old Town
Hey Deb,
Boaters World and West Marine stores carry bucket-sized dessicant containers. I went through several to dry out my MINI completely. It worked though.
Mike
Boaters World and West Marine stores carry bucket-sized dessicant containers. I went through several to dry out my MINI completely. It worked though.
Mike
Originally Posted by NekoWoman
I might have to! LOL The kitty litter didn't seem to do much... I'm going to go to Home Depot... I should think they'll have dessicant even though Super Wal-Mart didn't.
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5th Gear
Joined: Aug 2002
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From: Fulltime RVer - R53 towed behind a vintage 1979 35' MCI MC-5C Saudi
Originally Posted by z3bum
Hey Deb,
Boaters World and West Marine stores carry bucket-sized dessicant containers. I went through several to dry out my MINI completely. It worked though.
Mike
Boaters World and West Marine stores carry bucket-sized dessicant containers. I went through several to dry out my MINI completely. It worked though.
Mike
Today's supposed to be up to 57 so maybe that will help... I'm headed home to give him a bath (on the outside this time!).
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